


You and I, On The Fly

by takemetofantasyland



Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Summer Romance, country club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takemetofantasyland/pseuds/takemetofantasyland
Summary: When Dmitry accepted a job at the country club as a summer lifeguard, he had no idea the world he would be whisked into. He thought he would be spending his summer watching the pool. Instead he finds himself wrapped up in the insane and lavish lives of the rich, with only his friendship with the bartender keeping him grounded. A country club au absolutely no one asked for.





	1. Chapter 1

There was nothing like bare feet on the pool deck, the sun warm against his skin and sunglasses propped on his nose to really say summer to Dmitry. He walked across the pool deck, a bottle of sunscreen and a towel in hand, and sighed as he climbed up the tower to his chair. 

He was so close, so close to the life of luxury he knew he would only see in his dreams. There would never be a day in his life that he didn’t worry about where his next dollar was coming from, whether he had enough for his next meal, or that he wouldn’t have to put on a fake smile and take shit from strangers who thought they were above him simply because they had money. 

He was grateful Vlad had gotten him a job at the Neva Country Club this summer, and he didn’t necessarily mind sitting in the sun, but it seemed somewhat counter productive to hire a lifeguard when none of the club members went into the pool. They only lined up on the deck chairs and laid out in the sun for hours, with deck boys serving them drink after drink.  

And so he sat, day in and day out, watching the pool with no one in it. 

A group of girls giggled as they walked onto the pool deck with floppy sun hats, towels and wearing their best swimsuits. He sighed as he watched them enjoying every moment of the sun, not knowing what it was like to work day in and out of the summer. Where a deck hand bringing you a drink on a silver platter was the norm, and the biggest concern in your day was whether to use tanning oil or sunscreen. 

He sighed as he watched them, sitting by the pool felt like a chore, and not something he did for fun. 

“Bring that umbrella over here, Mashka, the sun is a bit too strong!” A tall girl called to what appeared to be her sister. 

“But don’t block the sun too much, Tatya is working on her tan!”

He sighed, slumping over the arm rail of his chair. At least he got a bird’s eye view. His eyes fixed on the water, the gentle breeze causing a ripple in the otherwise empty pool. “It pays well my boy!” Dmitry mocked Vlad as he slumped in his chair. 

The group of girls seemed to have caught the interest of the deck staff. Boys were running up to the girls offering drinks, positioning their umbrellas, smoothing their towels out before they sat down.

“Who do they think those girls are treating them like the Queen of Sheba?” Dmitry muttered to himself.

One of the smaller girls smiled and thanked the deck boys for their help. The smallest girl in the group had her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun while the other girls had flawless barrel curls to sit in the sun. His eyes fixed on the smallest girl. She was the only girl in the group who pulled a book out of her bag to read as they sat.

Dmitry sat through several hours of the deck hands fawning over the girls. And still no one had touched a toe into the pool. 

After several hours sitting and watching club members sunbathe, he climbed down from the tower as the other lifeguard waited for him. “Chair’s all yours,” he muttered. 

The other lifeguard laughed. Dmitry scowled, _why did everyone at this club have to try so hard to impress each other?_

He threw his towel over his shoulder and headed back into the clubhouse. The rush of cool air in the air conditioned clubhouse mussed his hair, and his skin suddenly felt warm from having sat out in the sun. 

He strode over to the bar, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head. 

A woman behind the bar leaned over the bar as she listened to an older gentleman at the bar. She swirled a straw around her glass as she mindlessly sipped. Dmitry was sure she wasn’t listening to a word he was saying, just nodding and saying ‘uh huh’ every couple minutes. 

She looked up from the man and brushed a dark curl behind her ear. Dmitry watched her gasp as she did a double take. 

“Hey,” he said softly as he approached the bar. 

“Can I get you something?” she grinned. 

“Come on, Marf,” he laughed. 

“I’ll start with a glass of water, you look like you’ve been in the sun far too long,” she teased as she scooped ice into a glass.

“It’s part of the job,” Dmitry shrugged. 

Marfa smiled as she slid the glass of water down the bar to him. He gladly accepted it and gulped it down, not realizing how thirsty he was from sitting outside and staring at the pool.

“I have a little left over pina colada?” Marfa offered. 

“Is that what you’ve been sipping on all afternoon?” Dmitry teased. 

“Shut up! It’s dry as bones around here. I can listen to rich bastards complain about problems only rich bastards have better when I’m a little tipsy.” Marfa snapped. 

Dmitry laughed as she glared at him. Marfa poured leftover pina colada in a glass for him and stuck a straw in it. 

Dmitry stared at it and looked at Marfa. 

“What?” Marfa asked. 

“No pineapple slice? No umbrella? The service here is pretty awful.” Dmitry scoffed. 

Marfa glared at him as she shoved a pineapple slice on the rim of the glass, “I’m not even supposed to be serving you! You’re getting poor lifeguard all over my bar!”

Dmitry flashed a grin as he picked up the glass and took a sip. “Thanks, Marf, you’re the best!”

She shook her head as she watched him walk back to the locker room to change. 

As Dmitry walked down the hall he passed a man on his way to the bar. He arched his brow, the man seemed somewhat overdressed for the summer activities at the club, in a shirt and tie. But the rich scent of cologne that nearly choked Dmitry told him all he needed to know about him. He probably had the cost of Dmitry’s apartment as chump change. 

He stared for just a moment as the man headed to the bar and took a seat. Marfa seemed taken aback by him, and softened as she began to mix him a drink. 

Dmitry shook his head and continued to the locker room.

* * *

 

“Olya I swear I’m burning out here!” Anya cried as she sat up on her chaise. 

“No! Nastya, just another half hour!” Olga pleaded. 

Anya snapped her book shut, “I’m going to look like a lobster at Nana’s gala if I keep sitting out here!” She placed her book back in her bag. 

Olga lifted her sunglasses to look at her sister. Anya looked beside her to Tatiana and Maria. 

“Suit yourself, Nastya,” Tatiana replied, her face covered with a fashion magazine. Maria flipped through a magazine next to Tatiana. 

Anya groaned and packed her things into her tote. 

“Ms. Romanov! Are you alright? Can I get you anything? A drink?” A deckhand rushed to her side. 

Anya rolled her eyes, “No! No. I just need to go inside.” She waved him off and started to the clubhouse. “I’m going to find Alyosha.”

“See you in a bit!” Olga called after her. 

Anya sighed and her shoulders dropped. She pulled her coverup on over her swimsuit and headed back into the clubhouse.

She made a beeline to the bar. “Excuse me?” Anya called. 

Marfa turned to look at her from where she had been talking to another gentleman at the bar. She held a finger up to the man and walked across the bar. “Yes, hun?”

“Can I please have a glass of water? With lemon?” Anya asked. 

Marfa arched a brow, “That’s it?”

“Yes, please,”

“No shot? Nothing?”

“Just the water please,” Anya replied. She fixed her tote bag from slipping off her shoulder. 

Marfa poured the glass of water and added a lemon wedge. It was a peculiar order in a club where most of the members were drinking to forget. 

“Miss, you can have a drink, on me,” A man offered. 

Anya took a sip of water and turned to look at him. He didn’t look like most of the other club members, dressed in a shirt and tie in the summer, his dark hair perfectly coiffed down to a curl, definitely styled with attention. 

Anya caught herself staring and shook her head to snap herself out of it. “No, no I’m fine thank you.”

“Just a drink? You seem exhausted,” he offered. 

“Precisely, I am exhausted from having to hold my breath to hold my figure and speak with proper grammar, and entertain men like you like I’m some prize to be won!” Anya snapped. She gulped down her water and placed her glass on the bar. “Thank you,” she said as she looked Marfa in the eye and turned over her shoulder to walk away. 

Marfa felt her jaw hanging open, and she shook her head and looked back at the man. “I’ve never seen anyone like that in here,” Marfa said softly as she took the glass and wiped down the bar. 

“From her? I’m not surprised,” the man replied. 

“So you know her?” Marfa crossed her arms.

“How could I not? She’s a Romanov. She’s basically like royalty in here.” The man appeared to hold his tongue from scoffing and rolling his eyes. 

Marfa turned to look beyond the man, where Anya walked down the hall. 

As Anya walked down the hall she bumped into a man walking the opposite direction. 

Anya groaned and glared at him.

“Sorry?” he offered. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” she muttered. 

He stood in the hallway, watching as she disappeared down the hall and into the women’s locker room. Dmitry brushed his fingers through his hair, and continued back to the bar, where Marfa was finishing her shift. 


	2. At the Clubhouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have any explanation for this, but I hope you enjoy!  
> (I promise the set up seems a little long, but it'll be worth it!)  
> (Also I'm sorry this is a bit dialogue heavy!)

Dmitry fixed his sunglasses on his nose. He let out a sigh as he gazed over the pool. He figured at least one perk he got from this job was getting a decent tan from sitting in this chair every afternoon.

He watched the same groups of members lay out in the sun by the pool each day, and nothing really seemed to change. No one went in the pool, so it was a rather easy job. His main concern was the pool, the deck hands handled the rest. It was so odd to him that not a single one ever went into the pool. But he couldn’t complain. And he never questioned it. The pay was better than any other job he had ever had.

The sun beat down on the pool deck in the afternoon, which didn’t really seem to bother any of the members.

Anya got off her pool chaise to adjust the umbrella between her and Maria’s chairs. Maria glanced over the top of her sunglasses.

“I’m burning,” Anya muttered.

“Don’t move it too much, I’m trying to tan my legs,” Maria replied.

Anya sighed and sat back down. She picked up her book and stared at her sisters.

“Nastya,” Maria whispered. She reached her arm out to grab Anya. “Nastya!”

“What?”

“Look,” Maria cleared her throat and looked across the pool deck. Anya followed her gaze to two figures entering the pool deck.

“Oh no,” Anya groaned.

Two young men walked across the pool deck, shirtless and carrying towels. Maria reached over and touched Tatiana’s shoulder. Tatiana started and looked over at Maria and Anya.

Maria cleared her through and looked at the two men. Tatiana jumped and ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled her sunglasses off and looked at herself in the reflection of Maria’s sunglasses. She checked her face and quickly put her oversized sunglasses back on.

“Olya!” she whispered fiercely as she turned to her older sister.

Olga started and turned to look at Tatiana.

“Look, across the deck,” Tatiana whispered.

Olga looked and gasped and and fixed her sunhat. Tatiana and Olga looked at each other and took a deep breath. They calmly sat back in their deck chairs and pretended to be busy reading their magazines.

The two men rounded the pool and walked past the chairs where the sisters were sitting. “Hi Olga,” one of the men smiled as he passed by.

“Good afternoon, Maksim,” Olga smiled.

“Have you been out here all afternoon?” he asked.

“Enjoying the sun, yes,” Olga smiled.

Anya held her breath so she wouldn’t gag listening to them. Maria held her magazine over her mouth to hide her grin.

The other man looked past Olga, “Lovely to see you as always, Tatiana,”

“Hello Adelrik,” Tatiana glanced at him over the top of her sunglasses.

“Care for a drink, Tatiana? I was headed over to the bar,” Adelrik replied as he gestured vaguely in the direction of the clubhouse.

“He wasn’t,” Anya muttered to Maria. Maria clasped her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.

“Sure, it’s getting a little warm out here,” Tatiana smiled. She closed her magazine and smiled at Olga. Tatiana pulled on her coverup and slid her sandals on. She walked with Adelrik back to the bar.

Olga packed her bag and headed to the bar with Maksim. “Mashka, you both can come,” Olga offered.

Maria arched her brow as she looked at her older sister.

“Maksim and Adelrik have friends at the bar,” Olga whispered.

“It’s hot out here, let’s just go,” Anya replied.

Maria nodded.

Dmitry’s brow arched as he watched all four Romanov sisters go inside. He sighed as the pool deck emptied out. His shift would be over soon, but not soon enough.

Anya followed Maria into the clubhouse and to the bar. Olga leaned against the bar, twirling a strand of her hair as she chatted with Maksim. Tatiana laughed lightly at Adelrik’s jokes.

Adelrik looked past Tatiana, where Anya was sitting on a bar stool.

“Can I get you anything?” Marfa asked Anya.

“You can get me out of here,” Anya whispered as she leaned over the bar.

Marfa cracked a smile. “I can make you something strong enough that you’ll feel like you’re out of here.”

“Just a gin and tonic, please,” Anya smiled.

Marfa smiled as she started mixing a drink for Anya.

“Regular strength, please!” Anya quickly interjected.

“I’m not a monster!” Marfa protested and then winked at Anya. She poured the drink and placed it on the counter. Anya dug through her purse for some cash and carefully handed it to Marfa.

“Nastya, Maksim’s friend, Ivan, is going to be joining us at the bar, you should talk to him,” Olga smiled as she approached her sister.

“Oh, nice,” Anya smiled.

“I know you’re still looking for a date for Nana’s gala, perhaps Ivan might like to go?” Olga suggested.

“Perhaps,” Anya muttered under her breath.

A young man joined them at the bar and Maksim introduced him to Anya. Anya smiled sheepishly as Maksim and Ivan chatted. She didn’t know how to tell him Ivan wasn’t really her type.

Dating at the country club had grown exhausting. Anya had been on countless dates to appease her father with the sons of men Nicholas worked with, only to find they boasted and were only looking for a piece of arm candy to take to their fancy gatherings. Anya didn’t mind the fancy gatherings per se, but she wanted to be something more than just the woman standing next to a man.

She was polite to Ivan as she needed to be, but was careful not to give him any indication this would be going any further.

Marfa watched intently from behind the bar as the Romanovs mingled in front of her. Anya was growing more uncomfortable with Ivan as he leaned closer and closer to her.

Just as Marfa looked away, she caught the peculiar man who often stopped at the bar alone. He seemed quite fascinated with the Romanov sisters, though not bold enough to actually speak to them. He stood in the hallway, Marfa assumed he was overwhelmed with all four sisters occupying the bar at once.

The last several times Marfa had seen him he was wearing a shirt and tie, but today he was wearing a brightly patterned shirt and white jeans. It seemed horribly out of character for him and she was certain he seemed uncomfortable.

After deciding to bite it and join the bar, Marfa greeted him. His eyes were fixed on Anya as she chatted with Ivan.

“That’s a nice shirt you’ve got on,” Marfa smiled.

He started and looked down at his shirt, as if he’d forgotten he was wearing the loudest shirt in the room, or perhaps was the only man wearing a shirt in the room.

“I’m trying to be casual,” he replied.

“She’s really not into him,” Marfa whispered as she looked at Anya.

He looked at Marfa with some confusion.

“I see the way you look at her,” Marfa said softly.

“There is no way I look at her,” he protested.

Marfa crossed her arms over her chest and arched her brow.

He let out a heavy sigh and his shoulders dropped.

“My father is trying to do a business deal with her father. It’s-it’s not going well. I thought if I spoke to her, if there was something between us, it might ease the deal. Nicholas Romanov would be partial because his youngest daughter had emotional stake in it.”

Marfa’s brows raised. The one thing she loved about being a bartender at this country club was the longer she worked, the more she learned about members’ personal motives and relations to each other.

“They say a Romanov-Vaganov deal can’t be struck, and I guess they’re right,” he sighed.

“So you’ve been hanging around here silently praying Anya was going to miraculously bat her eyes in your direction? When she’s got men coming up to her left and right?”

“Ouch, that was cold,”

“It’s the truth,” Marfa shrugged. “House Mule?”

He nodded.

She set to work and poured his drink. “She’s not into these guys, Mr. Vaganov,” Marfa shook her head. “Look how bored she is with Ivan.”

The man turned to look at her. Anya smiled sheepishly, but anyone besides Ivan could tell she did not want to be in his company.

Anya gently held her hand up to stop him and excused herself. Ivan gasped with offense. “Where do you have to be? It’s a country club we just hang out!” He exclaimed.

“Nastya!” Tatiana quickly interjected.

“No, Tatya, it’s just baiting a free ticket to Nana’s gala!” Anya cried. “And you should learn to speak of something other than your father’s business!” Anya snapped as she looked beyond Tatiana.

Tatiana grabbed her sisters’ shoulders, “Nastya,” she said firmly.

“Tatya, no. I’m not interested.”

“No one said I was carrying you off to marry you, Anya, we were just having a drink!” Ivan protested.

Tatiana stared into her sister’s eyes for a moment, and Anya bit her lip, silently pleading with Tatiana to let her go.

“She’s not interested, Ivan, she wants to go,” Tatiana said as she turned to him.

Anya thanked her sister and turned out of the bar. Marfa watched, smiling to herself.

“She’s not your type,” Marfa said to the man sitting on the other side of the bar.

“I know she isn’t. But a deal is a deal.” he replied. “No one married to anyone in this club are each other’s ‘type.’ They’re married for business.”

“Fair enough,” Marfa shrugged. “You never told me your name by the way,” she teased playfully as she leaned on the bar.

“Vaganov,” He replied as he stared down at his drink.

“That’s your family name,” Marfa replied.

“Isn’t that all you need to know?” he asked.

“I’m nosey,” she grinned.

“So it would appear,” he shook his head. “Gleb. Gleb Vaganov.”

“Much better,” Marfa grinned.

“And you?”

“That’s something you’ll learn once you give up the pursuit,” Marfa glanced at the doorway where Anya had hurried out.

“Your name tag says Martha,” Gleb pointed out.

Marfa glanced down at her name tag, “Yes, well, it is misprinted. They just didn’t want to get me another.”

He grinned as he took a sip of his drink.

Anya walked in the hallway of the club, trying to clear her mind. She was so sick of the type of men that tried to court her and her sisters at the club. She knew this was just how this life was to be, but she also didn’t know if she could stand being with someone who said “Trust Fund” in every other sentence he spoke.

She was wrapped in her thoughts as she stumbled into something—or someone.

“I’m so sorry–” She glanced up at the man she had run into.

He was much taller than her, his skin sun kissed, his messy brown hair just grazing over his browline.

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him, “Aren’t you...the pool boy?”

His surprised expression softened. “I believe the proper title is ‘lifeguard’,” He said with a smirk.

She looked him up and down for just a moment. There were gears turning in her head and he froze as she circled him.

“Sorry, my shift just ended, and I was hoping to be on my way, I’ll get out of your hair–” He said quickly as he gestured to the door.

“Right, of course,” she shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts.

“But I’ll, er– probably see you basking out in the sun again tomorrow, right?” He grinned. “No one ever goes in the damn pool, but I’ll be there… guarding it.”

Anya laughed, “Oh, you’re funny!”

His brow knit in confusion.

“Is this your first summer at the club?” she asked.

“Yeah, a friend got me the job,” he nodded.

“Oh, nice to see you around then,” she smiled.

She was up to something, he could tell.

“Yeah, I’m going to be on my way,” he pointed to the door again. “Anya, right? Anya Romanov?”

“Anonymity doesn’t really exist in this club, I see,” she smiled.

“Well it does for me, I’m just the lifeguard,” he shrugged.

“See you around then, lifeguard.” Anya smiled.

He waved as he walked to the bar to greet Marfa. Anya stood in the hall, her lips curling into a smile.


	3. She's a Romanov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dmitry actually having to do his job? Unheard of.

Alexei placed his racquet back in its case and zipped it shut. He grabbed his water bottle and squeezed it to pour water into his mouth. After he packed his belongings back into his duffel bag, he slung it over his shoulder. “You ready?” He asked as he turned to his side. 

“Yeah,” Anya replied as she smoothed her skirt. Her chest was still heaving as she caught her breath and took a sip of water. 

“You’re tired of Olya and Tanya?” Alexei teased. His lips curled into a slick smile. He had always enjoyed Anya’s company.

“I get bored with Olya and Tanya,” Anya corrected as she rolled her eyes.

Alexei laughed. “I thought all of you were intent on getting all the sharpest sons of Papa’s partners to take to Nana’s gala at the end of the summer,” Alexei replied as he looked over at Anya. 

Anya scoffed and shook her head. “Alyosha, they’re all awful,”she replied. 

“That bad?”

Anya started off the court and Alexei followed along.

“A cardboard cutout would have more personality,” Anya replied. 

Alexei laughed, “You have high standards, Nastya.” 

“I don’t like to be bored,” she shrugged. “If I can’t bear five minutes with him, how am I going to spend a whole night with him?”

She walked with Alexei into the clubhouse. Alexei paused with her in front of the women’s locker room, “Are you going out to the pool deck?”

“Can we get something to eat first?” Anya asked. 

Alexei nodded and smiled. Anya followed him to the restaurant to get a bite after their match. 

* * *

Gleb took a seat at the bar, and folded his hands patiently. He gazed across the bar at Marfa, her dark curls pulled up in a high ponytail, with small curls framing her face from the summer heat. 

Marfa chatted with a club member as she glanced over in his direction. She smiled, nodded and broke away. 

“You’re on schedule,” Marfa grinned as she approached him at the bar. 

“There really isn’t much else to do here, is there? Sit by the pool? Sit by the bar? Play tennis? Play golf?” Gleb suggested. 

“Maybe you should take up golf,” Marfa teased as she pulled a glass off the bar. 

“You want me to go, then?” Gleb gestured to the door. 

“I’m not keeping you here, that’s all I’m going to say,” Marfa replied as she poured into a shaker and closed the lid to mix his drink. 

She poured his drink and placed it on the bar. Gleb thanked her and took a sip. 

“Not enough Romanov girls to chase after in the club today?” Marfa teased as she leaned on the bar. 

“It’s hard to keep up a front all the time around them,” Gleb stared into his drink, stirring it with a straw. “Especially the youngest, Anastasia, her cunning mind is exhausting.”

Marfa laughed. “Well, what better way to spend a day than getting drunk off your high horse at the bar?” she teased. 

Gleb choked as he took a sip of his drink. He coughed and cleared his throat, smiling as he shook his head at her. 

A man across the bar eyed Gleb as Marfa spoke with him. She almost always gave Gleb her undivided attention when he came to sit at the bar, and the men used to Marfa serving them with her undivided attention were starting to notice the shift in her behavior. 

* * *

Anya walked out to the pool deck to join her sisters in the evening. As she crossed the deck to her sisters, she glanced up at the lifeguard chair. 

Dmitry slouched in the chair as he watched the empty pool. He reached over and grabbed his water bottle and took a sip.

And there she was. The youngest Romanov sister, setting up on a lounge chair. He shook his head and gazed off into the blistering heat. The summer had not been kind to him, except for being surprisingly forgiving with his sun kissed skin. 

Anya pulled her sunhat off, and slid her coverup over her head. As gracefully as she arrived on the deck, she slid her shoes off and set her sunglasses aside. She glanced up at Dmitry sitting in his chair. 

Anya padded across the warm concrete and stepped into the pool. Wading her way in past the shallow end of the pool, she held her breath and dove the rest of the way in. 

Dmitry gasped and sat upright, ripping his sunglasses off. He picked up the whistle around his neck and held it between his teeth. His heart raced as he watched her. 

Anya came up for air, her once voluminous waves now hung limply by the side of her face. She turned over her shoulder to look at him. Anya flashed a coy smile, and then turned back to her sister to ask for a towel. 

Dmitry sat with his whistle between his lips, watching her. There was something about her he couldn’t quite figure out, but he wanted more, and more, and more. 

She peered at him over her shoulder as she pulled herself out of the pool—a stunt to keep him on his toes, he was certain—and her sister handed her a towel. 

Anya toweled off and wrapped the towel around her. She sat for a moment and chatted lightly with one of her sisters.

Dmitry’s jaw hung open as he watched her, and the whistle fell out of his mouth. 

* * *

 

Marfa’s shoulders slumped and her back ached from drying glasses at the bar. It was long after last call, and she wanted to be home sitting in bed. She twisted the glass in her hand as she dried with the other. 

She brushed a loose curl out of her eyes and emptied the tip jar. Her takeaway was getting smaller, and for some reason she didn’t really mind. Well, she minded not having the spare cash in her pocket. But she didn’t dread her job quite so much. 

It had been several weeks since she had made a deal with one of the men who frequented the bar. She had agreed to make a deal for a little extra cash, and sealed lips when it came to his wife. 

Marfa was very careful with her side clientele. She needed men who paid well, and wouldn’t kiss and tell. But lately the rush she got from sneaking around had worn off. She had declined offers. Stopped wearing things she knew would draw attention to her. 

Instead, she found her heart fluttering at the thought of getting to see another man at the bar tomorrow. She bit her lip as she dried the same glass over and over and over. Gleb wasn’t like the other men she usually flirted with at the bar. He didn’t seem particularly interested at all. And yet she found herself wanting to chase him. 

Her brow knit. She had clearly been here too long. Her exhaustion was starting to wear on her, that was all. 

Gleb only came to the bar to drink each day because what else was he supposed to do? The things she knew about him were few but precise. He hated the country club but came because he felt he should be respectful of his father and do so. He was interested in pursuing a relationship with one of the Romanovs, but not romantically. He thought a patterned shirt and white jeans was a good casual alternative to his shirt and tie. And he liked mules, especially the way she made them. 

Marfa put the last glass on the shelf and tossed her rag in the bin to go to the laundry. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. 

Her shoulders dropped with a sigh and she gathered her belongings. Marfa glanced at her watch: 11:47 p.m. Her brow knit as she slung her purse over her shoulder and clocked out of the club. She walked through the employee entrance into the back lot. 

A single car sat in the parking lot with its headlights on and a dull light illuminating the inside. Marfa’s brow arched as she slowly approached the car. The windows were rolled down and Marfa approached the passenger side. 

“I thought you got off hours ago?” she asked. 

“You needed a ride home,” Dmitry shrugged. 

“I could have taken the bus, I would have been fine!”

“Will you just get in the car?” Dmitry protested. 

Marfa was too exhausted to argue. She grumbled and pulled the door open. Dmitry turned the ignition on and buckled his seatbelt. Marfa slumped into the passenger seat and held her purse on her lap. 

“Long night?”

“They want every glass hand dried and shelved, it’s exhausting!” Marfa grumbled. 

Dmitry pulled out of the lot and started down the road. 

“Where are you going tonight?”

Marfa hadn’t even looked at her phone since she had gotten off work. She grumbled as the screen illuminated. 

“Polly’s got a guy over again,” she shook her head. 

“At least she warned you, right?” Dmitry teased. 

“Just barely,” Marfa leaned her head back and groaned. “I just want to go to bed.”

Dmitry’s lip curled into a smile. He headed down the road. Marfa was silent. 

He checked his watch when he pulled up to his street: 12:15. 

“No, Dmitry, I can’t let you do this,” Marfa shook her head groggily. 

“It’s no problem,” he shrugged as he got out of the car. “Plus you have a free ride to work tomorrow, cheer up!”

“Dmitry!”

He shut the door and rounded the car onto the sidewalk. Marfa slung her bag over her shoulder as she got out of the car, and slammed the door shut. She crossed her arms, standing face to face with him under a street lamp. 

“Look, are you going to argue? Or are you going to bed?” Dmitry asked. 

Marfa pursed her lips as she glared at him. Her face softened, and her shoulders dropped. She followed him inside, and his lip curled into a smile. 

“You know where to get what you need, I’m going to bed,” Dmitry mumbled as he locked the door behind her. 

“What is this doing here?” Marfa asked holding up a small camisole top.

“That’s your shit you left here,” Dmitry replied groggily. “G’night, Marf.”

She gathered pillows and a blanket and made herself comfortable on his sofa sectional. Dmitry walked down the hall to his bedroom and shut the door.

“Good night,” Marfa said softly. 


	4. A Deal

The sun peered into the room early in the morning and Marfa woke with a start. Her thoughts were scrambled in her exhaustion and it took her a minute to remember Dmitry had brought her back to his apartment after work. She stretched and groaned, her back aching from sleeping in the wrong position on Dmitry’s sectional. 

It wasn’t new to her, just a pain her body had almost forgotten. Until Paulina had picked up a new suitor. Boyfriend? Friend? Customer? Marfa wasn’t quite sure what they asked, and the house rules specified that she didn’t ask. 

Still in yesterday’s clothes, she glanced at her watch. It was early, and there was no sign of Dmitry. He could sleep through almost anything, she had learned over time. 

Marfa got up and grabbed a towel from Dmitry’s closet. She took it into the bathroom and started the faucet for a quick shower. 

As she stood bare in the shower, water running over her and pulling the bounce from her curls, she glanced around. The shower was lined with bottles of products. Marfa picked up a few, hoping for some sort of soap or shampoo. It could be worse. He could use some sort of 3-in-1 concoction. Instead he had enough bottles and half empty bottles it looked like more than one person lived here. 

She rinsed and turned the shower off, and wrapped a towel around her. Marfa glanced in the mirror and realized she had nothing to change into. 

Hoping Dmitry was still asleep, she pulled the door open and gasped. She stood face to face with Dmitry. 

“Good morning.” He finally broke the silence. His voice had a rasp from having just woken up.

“Hi,” she said softly.  

She pinched the top of her towel wrap. “I- uh-” Marfa began.

“I’ll just swap places with you,” Dmitry cleared his throat as he stepped away from the door to let Marfa out. 

She stepped around him and he stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. Marfa stood in the hall in just her towel. 

Dmitry flung the door back open and walked into his bedroom. He tossed a t-shirt to Marfa. “We’ll stop by your place on the way to the club.”

Marfa flinched and caught the t-shirt, and smiled as he shut himself back in the bathroom. She carefully pulled Dmitry’s t-shirt over her head. 

Marfa set to work, making some coffee for when he got out of the shower. 

* * *

“I’m just going to shower off, Alyosha, I’ll be there in a little bit,” Anya called. 

“Nana is going to be at lunch today, don’t forget!” Alexei replied. 

Anya nodded and headed to the women’s locker room and took a quick shower after their tennis match. She wrapped her hair in a towel as she changed into a dress. She toweled her hair and scrunched her waves, and put on a little light makeup. 

Anya collected her belongings and tossed them in her bag, and locked it in her locker. She slung her purse over her shoulder and walked out into the club. 

The pool lifeguard walked down the hall, removing his sunglasses. He was getting quite tan from sitting out on the pool deck all summer and Anya couldn’t help but giggle at the line across his nose where his glasses rested. 

“Hey!” Anya called after him. 

He continued on past her, as if he had not heard her. 

“Hey!” Anya called again. 

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, can I help you?”

Anya was quiet. The corner of her lip turned into a smile. 

“I’m off the clock,” he began as he held a hand up, catching her devious smile. 

“Perfect,” Anya smiled. “What did you say your name was, again?”

“I don’t think I ever said it,” he replied, his brow knitting as he looked at her. 

“Right, of course, and you don’t wear a name tag because you sit out on the deck,”

“This might be hard to imagine, but it’s difficult to wear a name tag when you’re not wearing a shirt,” he quipped.

“Hm tragic,” Anya pouted. 

“Sorry, can I help you?” He frowned.

“Your name?” Anya repeated. 

“Dmitry?”

“Is that a question?” Anya asked. 

“No!”

“So, Dmitry, have you ever been to a gala?” Anya asked, her brow softening and her eyes dreamy. 

Dmitry laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“What’s so funny, Dmitry?” Anya’s brow knit. 

“I think the fact that I work here is a clear indicator that I have never been near enough to a gala to be invited to one.”

“You’re clever. I like that.” Anya’s eyes narrowed as she analyzed him. 

He shrugged. “You spend enough time around people with egos and you learn to deal with it,” he replied. “Did you need something, or–”

“Listen, Dmitry,” Anya lowered her voice. She glanced around her to see who else was in earshot. 

Dmitry tried to follow her gaze to see what she was looking for. Anya motioned for him to follow her to a small nook in the clubhouse. 

He did as he was told, standing mere inches from her. His heart raced. He never thought he would be this close to her, and his thoughts rattled with everything Marfa had told him about the Romanovs. 

“Dmitry,” she began again. “My Nana is hosting a Gala at the end of the summer at the clubhouse. It’s a custom that we all bring dates to this Gala. Unfortunately, I can’t stand most of the pricks who hang out here, waiting and hoping for my attention. They’re less interesting than a piece of cardboard. However, I still need a date to the Gala, or people will talk.”

“Are you… asking me–”

Anya held a finger to his lips. “I have a plan, but I need to know if you’re in or out.”

“Does this involve me going to the Gala?” Dmitry asked, Anya’s finger still pressed to his lips. 

“Since you’re more interesting, and more attractive, frankly, than every other eligible man in the club, I need you to act as my date for the night.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait— aren’t people going to talk if you bring the country club lifeguard to your grandmother’s gala?”

“Yes, most likely,” Anya replied. 

“They won’t make fun of you?”

“They will, but how are you going to make fun of someone who has their pick of the eligible men of the club and she chose the lifeguard?” Anya asked. 

“You’re twisted,” Dmitry shook his head as he pulled away. He took a step back, out of the nook, surely she was joking. 

“You don’t have to do it,” Anya called back. 

“What are you talking about? Of course I’ll do it.” Dmitry smirked. “These people are rude to me every day and I have to smile and nod. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when I show up with you.”

Anya’s lip curled into a smile. 

“So what’s the plan?” He asked.

“Well, it would be odd if I suddenly ask you to a gala. There has to be a build up.”

You’ve thought about this,” he smirked. “So you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend?” Dmitry asked. 

Anya nodded. “You don’t have a girlfriend do you? Perhaps I should have started with that?” Her lip curled into a smile as she rounded him. 

Dmitry laughed and shook his head. 

“Perfect. Do we have a deal?” Anya asked, sticking her hand out.

Dmitry stared at her hand and then shook it. “Deal. But I think we need to lay out some ground rules.”

“We can do that. I need to go meet my grandmother for lunch.” Anya replied. 

“See you… around?” Dmitry paused as Anya turned out of the nook and hurried on her way. 

“I’ll be in touch,” Anya turned over her shoulder and waved to him. 

* * *

Marfa poured a mule into a glass and placed it on the bar. 

“What do you do when you’re not here?” the man she was serving asked. 

“What are you talking about? I’m always here, working,” Marfa replied. 

“You must go home at some point,” Gleb replied. 

“I do, to sleep.” Marfa said nonchalantly. 

“So that’s all there is to Marfa? Making drinks and going home to sleep?” Gleb teased. 

Marfa smirked as she poured a drink for another customer. She turned around to hand the drink to another customer. Marfa picked up a rag and wiped down the bar. 

“It’s an exhausting job,” She smiled. 

Gleb laughed as she tossed the rag aside. He glanced around the bar, his eyes fixing on a woman. 

“Actually, I’m working at an event this weekend, so I get off early this evening,” Marfa smiled. “Issac is covering for me, so he’ll be serving you in about ten minutes.”

“I don’t want Issac’s service,” Gleb replied. 

“It’s not really a pick-and-choose sort of thing,” Marfa replied. She untied her apron as she wrapped the conversation. 

“Wh-what are you doing now?” Gleb asked quickly. 

“Meeting Dmitry,” Marfa shrugged. “My car is in the shop.”

“Oh, I see.”

Marfa glanced at him as his shoulders dropped, and his eyes cast away. She cleared her throat, “we’re just friends. Dmitry and I.”

“That’s fine,”

“You were curious,”

“I didn’t want to get involved. I should go–”

Gleb’s eyes fixed on a woman and Marfa felt a pain wrenching in her chest as he looked beyond her. 

“I can’t stay here,” Gleb muttered under his breath. 

“Walk with me then?” Marfa replied as she followed his gaze to a woman with dark curls. She was a Romanov. Not Anya, but Marfa had a bit of trouble identifying the two older sisters. She was never quite sure if the one who looked like Alexandra was the oldest or the second oldest. 

“Gladly,”

Gleb moved darted out of the bar. Marfa watched him as she stepped out from behind the bar. 

“What’s the matter?”

“I can’t look Olga Romanov in the eye,” he said quietly. “On my father’s first attempt at a deal between his company and Nicholas’ I had to try feverishly to get her to go out with me.”

“You got rejected by Olga Romanov?” Marfa teased. 

“Don’t laugh, it’s not an uncommon thing around here. She’s highly selective.” His eyes darted past her as he watched Olga talking and laughing in the bar. 

Marfa grinned at him as she walked with him. Gleb turned over his shoulder as the walked, checking behind them. “I thought I heard someone,”

“It’s fine!”

“It’s not fine!”

Marfa turned back to see Maksim walking out of the bar, with Olga close behind. 

“Follow me,” Marfa said quickly, and she pulled out her ring of keys. She turned over her shoulder and Grabbed Gleb’s hand and pulled him into a small nook in the hallway. Marfa thumbed through her keys and unlocked a door to a supply closet.

She flung the door open and led Gleb inside shutting the door behind them. 

Gleb held his breath as they listened for footsteps. Marfa’s heart pounded in her chest as they waited. Gleb didn’t dare breathe as he listened. 

Her chest was so close to his in the small space, her thoughts rattled and she couldn’t take being this close to him in dead silence anymore. Marfa reached up in the dark and gently cupped his cheek. Gleb froze, and she felt his breath stop. 

“Gleb?” Marfa whispered.

And suddenly his lips crashed against hers and her hands were wrapped around his neck. Marfa stepped back and braced herself on a shelf. She nipped at his lip and a groan slipped from the back of his throat. 

Frantic hands moved in the dark, and suddenly the fear of running into Olga and Maksim slipped away. 

Gleb reached up and pulled Marfa’s hair out of its messy bun. “What are you doing?” She whispered fiercely. 

“I like them this way,” he replied, and he rounded her backside causing Marfa to hum against his lips. 

“You can’t even see them,”

“I just know,”

Her fingers ran over the stubble on his cheeks and she held his jaw as she kissed him again and again. He drew a moan from her lips she had never heard herself as he worked his way down her neckline, and she had never felt so desperate. 

“You can say stop,” Gleb whispered. 

“I don’t want you to,” Marfa breathed. 


	5. The Start of Something New

Dmitry stirred the ice in his glass with his straw as Marfa leaned on the bar. He readjusted his seat on the bar stool, and tipped his glass to finish his drink off and crunch on the ice. 

“I don’t believe you,” Marfa finally broke the silence between them. 

Dmitry swallowed and looked at her. “You don’t believe I could get a girl?” he snapped. 

“No, I don’t believe Anya Romanov would give you the time of day,” Marfa replied as she rolled her eyes and straightened out. 

Dmitry placed his glass on the bar. “Well just because you don’t think I’m hot–” His lip curled into his infectious, devilish smile. 

“–I never said that,” Marfa interjected. “I said I don’t believe Anya offered you to be her boyfriend. Or rather, fake boyfriend.”

“So you do think I’m hot?” Dmitry grinned.

Marfa groaned and pulled the rag off her shoulder and twisted it in frustration. “You’re so dense!” she snapped as she tossed a rag back over her shoulder. 

“You can’t tell anyone,” Dmitry added. 

“People are going to notice if Nicholas Romanov’s youngest daughter is walking around on your arm, Dmitry,” Marfa scoffed. 

“It’s… it’s slow, it won’t happen all at once, at least that’s the plan,”

“You’re always scheming, Dmitry,” 

“And you don’t? It’s how we survive Marfa,”

Dmitry got up and left his glass on the bar. He tossed his towel over his shoulder and headed to the pool deck. 

“Don’t forget me when you’re eating caviar and bowing to her father!” Marfa called after him. 

Dmitry turned over his shoulder as he put his sunglasses on and glared at her. 

* * *

Anya walked through the clubhouse with her bag slung over her shoulder. 

“Hey!” 

She froze and spun on her heel to look behind her. Dmitry walked quickly to catch up with her. “So about the other day–“

“I said what I said,” Anya replied coldly. 

“You still want to go through with it?”

“Yes. Unless you don’t. I’ll find someone else, it’s not hard, Dmitry,” she replied nonchalantly as she walked. 

She was small and had a small stride, but Dmitry still struggled to keep up. 

“No! No, I’m in. I just think maybe we need to establish some rules?”

“Of course,” Anya’s lip curled into a smile as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. 

“I mean, it’s not every day such a common man as myself has the opportunity to participate in such a lavish lifestyle,” he said smoothly. 

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Dmitry,” Anya chided. 

She glanced around and turned sharply, leading Dmitry down a hallway. Even as an employee he wasn’t sure he was supposed to be down here, or if Anya was either. 

He also decided in that moment that Anya was not to be questioned. She had her motives, reasons, plans and it was best for him to follow along or not at all. 

Anya led him to a small space by a window with a table and sat down. 

“Rules,” she said, pulling out a notepad from her bag. 

“This is your game, make up what you want,” Dmitry shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. 

Anya was not amused. She cleared her throat and pulled the cap off her pen. “If we’re seen walking together we need to either hold hands or I’ll hold your arm,”

Her eyes flickered up at him. 

“That’s fine,” he replied.

“This needs to appear natural,” Anya emphasized. 

Dmitry crossed his arms over his chest, “and it would appear natural with some public affection, no?”

“Kissing on the cheek only,” Anya replied, her eyes narrowing. 

“Fine, I don’t have a problem with that,” he leaned back and stretched his arms. “Can I put my arm around your waist?”

“Yes, but, at the hips only.”

“So technical,” he grinned. 

She glared at him. “There are social expectations of dating in this club,”

“You don’t really seem like a rule follower to me, to be honest,” Dmitry smirked as he looked at Anya. 

“I keep a toe in line to keep my father’s name clean.” Anya replied. 

“So you don’t think we should practice any of this before debuting it to the club?” He arched his brow. 

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Anya replied. “It won’t be that involved.”

“You’re writing rules in a notebook!”

“Think of it like a contract,” Anya replied. 

“So what if I kiss you, you’re going to sue me?” he laughed. 

“We’ll see,” she snapped. 

She spent the next fifteen minutes outlining social rules for Dmitry and what he could and couldn’t do with her in the clubhouse. 

Dmitry’s head was spinning, suddenly what started as a game had become so serious. 

“Remember, act natural, take a breath,” Anya said softly. 

She slowly stood up and straightened out. Dmitry followed her lead. He offered his hand and she gently took it with a smile. 

Anya led him back to the main clubhouse and into the bar. “Perhaps a drink for your effort?” She asked. 

Dmitry nodded, realizing from now on eyes would be on him. 

Anya pulled herself onto a bar stool, and Dmitry leaned on the bar beside her. 

“Marfa!” He called. 

Marfa paused in her conversation with another man and turned to look at Dmitry. Her jaw hung open as she noted Anya sitting beside him. 

She held up a finger to the man she was speaking to, a somewhat awkward man dressed in a shirt Dmitry found far too loud for his personality, and walked across the bar. “What, Dmitry?” Marfa asked. 

“Can I get a glass of lemonade for myself and whatever Anya would like?”

Marfa faked a smile as she looked at him. “What would you like, Anya?”

“A lemonade, please,” Anya added. 

Marfa filled two glasses and placed them on the bar. “Good to see you again, Anya,” 

Anya smiled and thanked her. Marfa smiled and returned to the man at the bar. 

“See? Natural.” Dmitry grinned. 

Anya took a sip of her drink, “Just barely.”

Dmitry stuck his tongue out at her.

* * *

Gleb sat at the bar stirring the ice in his drink, avoiding eye contact with Marfa. 

“Are you alright?” Marfa asked.

Gleb started and looked up at her, “Yes, er– fine.”

“I thought you were supposed to be vacationing here,” Marfa replied. 

“I am,” Gleb replied. 

“You never look relaxed!” Marfa teased. 

“You can never truly go on vacation here, Marfa,” Gleb replied. “You’re always playing a character of some sort.”

“Then pick a different one,” Marfa shrugged. “One who knows how to loosen up a little.”

“I know how to relax just fine!” Gleb protested as he put his drink down on the bar.

He glanced across the bar where Anya and Dmitry were leaving arm in arm. He frowned. 

“Stop, let me–” Marfa said quickly. She put her towel down and pushed through the bar door and rounded the bar to where he was sitting. “Stand up,” she ordered. 

Gleb stood and looked down at where he now had quite a bit of height on Marfa. Marfa stood back and looked at him, and he could tell there were wheels turning in her head. 

Marfa moved his arms away from his sides. She looked at him and gently began to pull his shirt out of its tuck. 

“Hey! Hey! What are you doing?” Gleb pulled back. 

“Untuck your shirt, it makes you look stiff!” Marfa replied. She dropped her arms down to her side. 

Gleb pulled his shirt out of its tuck, “This looks sloppy.”

“It looks fine!” Marfa protested. “I don’t think you get to have a hard opinion on this you wear hair gel while you’re on vacation.” She crossed her arms. 

Gleb’s mouth gaped as he searched for a response. His brow knit, “It’s a look.”

“Fine, have it your way,” Marfa shrugged and rounded the counter back behind the bar. 

Gleb smoothed his shirt as he left it untucked. He glared at Marfa as he sat back on his stool. 

“Another drink?” Marfa asked. 

“No,” Gleb shook his head. 

Marfa arched her brow as she looked at him. 

“I want to remember you like this,” Gleb said softly. 

Marfa held her breath, thinking she had misheard him. She looked at him, waiting for him to say anything that would indicate she misheard. 

“I can’t walk around here on a buzz anymore. It shakes the nerves but ruins everything else,” Gleb sighed. 

Marfa’s brow softened and she reached her hand across the bar to gently touch his arm. He gently took her hand and pressed his lips to the back of her hand. 

“But I wouldn’t forget you,”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came to mind quickly. Enjoy!

“Nastya!”

Anya froze in the hallway of the country club.

Quick footsteps approached her and Anya found herself face to face with Maria. “Nastya, why did Mikhail tell Olya he saw you holding hands with the pool lifeguard?” Maria lowered her voice to a whisper. 

Maria’s eyes darted around the grand sitting room for anyone who might overhear their conversation. 

“Maybe I was,” Anya shrugged and turned away from her sister. She held her breath, hoping Maria hadn’t caught on to any sort of reaction from her. She did what she always did when she was lying to her sister, and took short breaths. And it pained her to lie to her closest sister and best friend.

“Nastya,”

“What?”

“You’re lying,” Maria said quickly. 

Anya shrugged and turned down the hall. 

“Anastasia!” Maria snapped. 

“Yes?” Anya said loftily as she turned over her shoulder. 

“Oh God, you’re not lying!” Maria hurried after her. “Anya! Why wouldn’t you tell me you’re seeing him?”

“We’re not seeing each other,” Anya replied. 

Maria gave her a confused look. “But if you’re holding hands with him in the club house, Nastya you know what connotation that has, you know what people will say!”

Maria froze in the hallway as Anya continued down the hall.

“We’re just feeling things out, seeing how it goes,” Anya smirked. 

Maria clasped her hands over her mouth, and paused as Anya continued down the hall of the clubhouse. 

“Nastya, you know what Mikhail is going to think!”

Anya shrugged and continued down the hall to the pool deck. “Let him think what he wants. At least Dmitry cares more for me than Olya does for Mikhail.”

“Anya!” Maria gasped. 

“Tell me I’m wrong, Mashka,” Anya smirked. 

* * *

 

Marfa focused on a stain on the bar, scrubbing away with her rag. Somehow, much like the stain she couldn’t quite scrub away on the counter, there were thoughts she couldn’t quite scrub from her mind. 

She let out a grunt and threw her rag on the counter. 

“Something bothering you?” a man asked. 

Marfa bit her lip for just a moment, preparing herself for whatever hellish, self-entitled customer was on the other side of the bar. She turned over her shoulder. 

A man was sitting at the bar with dark messy curls. He had a day’s stubble, and was wearing a loud-printed button down shirt.

Marfa was about to snap at him and immediately caught her tongue. 

“Gleb?” 

“You done working on that spot there?” Gleb pointed at the counter. 

Marfa wrinkled her nose as she looked at him and frowned. “For now,” Marfa replied. 

“How are you?” He asked, “If that scrubbing is any indication, I would take it not well.”

Marfa’s mouth gaped, as she looked at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to be cross with him. 

“You’re a little slow to the drinks today, Marfa,” Gleb smirked. 

Her mouth gaped as she searched for a witty remark. Her focus was caught elsewhere. 

“Your hair-” Marfa said slowly as she stared. 

Gleb’s ears flushed and ran his fingers through his gel-free hair. “Yeah?”

“It’s different,” Marfa said softly. 

Gleb glanced away from her. 

Marfa shook her head and turned away from the bar. She grabbed a glass and a couple handles and set to work. 

She placed the glass on the bar in front of Gleb. 

Gleb grinned and picked up the glass with a smirk. He took a sip and swallowed. “I’m trying a relaxed look.”

Marfa’s cheeks flushed. 

Gleb placed his glass on the bar and stood up. “I even didn’t tuck my shirt in, see?” Gleb said as he held his arms out so Marfa could see. 

“You listened,” Marfa smirked. 

“I tried,” Gleb replied. 

Marfa couldn’t keep herself from smiling. He didn’t seem so miserable with his hair not so slick and wearing a bright colored shirt.

Her heart raced as she looked at him and if it had not been for the bar top between them, she would have her fingers tangled in the curls of his hair. 

Gleb took his seat, and sipped on his drink. 

Marfa tried to hide her smile as she leaned on the bar. 

* * *

 

Anya stood alone in the parking lot behind the country club as she waited. A silver sedan pulled up to the lot and panned her with the headlights. 

Anya ran around to the passenger door and opened the door. “What took you so long?” She grumbled through gritted teeth. 

“Sorry, your highness, I had to clock out… of work.” Dmitry replied. 

Anya was silent and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Listen, you’re the one who wanted to do this. If you want me, you have to be okay with all of me. Even the part of me that has to keep my job,” Dmitry said. 

“Maria knows.” Anya replied. 

“Wait, what?”

“My sister, Maria,” Anya clarified, “she knows what we’re doing.”

“You told her?” 

“No, this guy who’s into my older sister, Olga, saw us together and told Olga, who told Maria.”

“Okay, I am going to need some spark notes on your family later, but what does this mean for us now?” Dmitry asked. 

“People are talking,” Anya said blankly as she stared out the windshield. 

“That’s what you wanted, right?”

“I didn’t expect it to feel like this,” Anya said softly. 

Dmitry took her hand and squeezed it. Anya slowly turned to look at him. 

He gave her a reassuring smile. It wasn’t often he wasn’t teasing her or giving her a hard time, but this time he meant it. She seemed caught off guard, and he knew now they were in this together. 

“I know something that will make you feel better.”

“You do?”

“Miss Romanov, are you a fan of ice cream?” Dmitry asked with a smirk. 

“Oh God, this is a disaster, I’m never going to pull off dating you, I barely even know you!” Anya ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Then let’s get to know each other. Come on, you’re already in the car, let’s go.”

Anya turned to look at him. He held her gaze. Anya’s lip curled into a smile and she nodded. 

* * *

 

“Headed home so soon, Marfa?” Gleb asked. 

Marfa turned on her heel as she looked over her shoulder. “Gleb,”

She paused and looked at him, biting her lip. There were so many things she wanted to say, but knew she couldn’t. “My shift is over,” Marfa said softly. 

“The bar isn’t the same when you’re not working Marfa,” Gleb smiled as he neared her. 

“Please don’t make me suffer through small talk,” Marfa lowered her voice as she gently tugged on Gleb’s shirt. 

“I-I agree,” Gleb replied quickly. 

Marfa glanced around and pulled Gleb with her back into the kitchen of the clubhouse. 

“Am I allowed- Is this allowed?” Gleb said quickly as Marfa wrapped her arms around his neck. 

She held a finger to his lips. “You made me stare at those curls for my whole shift and I wasn’t even allowed to touch them.”

Gleb smiled down at her. 

Marfa ran her fingers through his hair, and he gently pressed a kiss into her neck. She hummed softly as he traced along her neck to her lips and kissed her deeply. Marfa balled her fists into the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. 

He smiled against her lips, and his hands wasted no time rounding the curve of her hip. 

“You’re sober this time?” Marfa breathed gently. 

“I promise,” Gleb panted between groans.

She bit her lip and curled her fingers in his hair. 


	7. The First Date

Anya was silent as she stared through the windshield of Dmitry’s car. She did not look at him. She did not look at the way his hand lazily held the steering wheel as he drove. She did not look at how his arm rested on the center console. She tried to concentrate on anything other than the soft hum of the radio station playing on his stereo. 

“You ever come down from these hills?” Dmitry asked with a smirk. His hand loosely rounded the steering wheel as he adjusted his grip. 

The car wound down the road as the country club faded into a memory in his rear view mirror.

“Don’t be dense,” Anya scolded, her eyes on the road. She didn’t trust his driving—yet. “Of course I come down here.”

She crossed her arms. Just because her family had money, and she and her sisters spent their hours of the summer lounging around the country club, did not mean she was out of touch with reality. She had Alexei for that.

“Often?” Dmitry teased. 

Anya grit her teeth to hold her tongue. Perhaps she shouldn’t have let her heart select the subject of her pretend summer romance before he had a chance to open his mouth. 

Dmitry let out a soft laugh. 

“I’m not the stuck up heiress that you think I am,” Anya interjected. “I know how to live like a normal person.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t.”

“Well your face implied it,” Anya replied sharply. “Do you know how hard it is to trust people when the world thinks you’ve had your life handed to you on a silver platter? That’s why the only ‘suitable’ men there are for me to date are the sons of my father’s business associates.”

“I think it’s mostly envy,” Dmitry replied. “We all wish we didn’t have to worry where our next meal comes from. I wish I didn’t have to sit and supervise the pool, but that’s not a choice life has made for me. We all wish we could live a life as glamorous as the Romanovs.” 

“Flattery will get you nowhere fast, Dmitry,” Anya chided as she ran her fingers through her hair. 

Dmitry glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and swallowed hard. 

The city lights glowed in the dark night sky. It was like entering a world where dreams evaporated into dust and people lived on survival instead of luxury. 

Anya was silent. 

Dmitry could tell she was upset and perhaps speaking to her privilege added insult to injury over Maria asking about her relationship to him. 

Anya watched as Dmitry expertly navigated through the streets. She was at the mercy of his knowledge of the terrain now. 

With his lip pulled into his stupid, signature smirk, he pulled off the road into a parking lot. Anya would have called it an abandoned lot, save for the small, run down shop in the center of the lot. 

Dmitry pulled in and parked his car. Anya was still for a moment.

“Something wrong, your highness?”

Anya frowned, ignoring his comment, and turned to look out the window. “Are you sure this is safe? This part of the city can be a little seedy at night,” she looked at a neon sign blaring Dairy Queen back at her. 

“Do you really think I would take you somewhere where you might get kidnapped?” Dmitry asked dryly. He unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his wallet and shoved it in his pocket. 

“Careful, some might already consider this a kidnapping,” Anya warned. 

“It’s not a kidnapping if you pulled on my car door handle until I unlocked it and yelled at me for being late,” Dmitry reminded her. 

“Save it for the police,” Anya snapped. 

“Come on, let’s go,” he opened his door and got out. 

Anya reluctantly got out of the car and rounded it to walk with Dmitry. He led her up to the small shop that only had a window to order. 

Anya shifted uncomfortably as she watched how calm Dmitry was in this unsettling environment. 

“What can I get you tonight?” A cashier asked through the window. 

“A cup or a cone, your highness?” Dmitry asked as he pulled his wallet out. 

“Stop calling me that!” Anya frowned and crossed her arms. 

Dmitry arched an eyebrow as he waited. The cashier looked at him, her eyes clearly too exhausted to question this dynamic. 

“A cup, please,” Anya sighed. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 

“Two chocolate dips please, each in a cup,” Dmitry ordered. 

He handed the cashier a few dollars and dropped a few dollars in the tip jar. 

A woman filled his order and placed it on the counter. Dmitry thanked her and picked up the cups and handed one to Anya. 

“Have you ever been to a Dairy Queen before?” Dmitry asked. 

Anya frowned as she broke the chocolate shell to get to the ice cream, “What if I said I hadn’t?”

Dmitry shrugged, “No shame, I’m just asking.”

“Fine,” Anya replied as she frowned with concentration on her ice cream. “I haven’t.”

She took a bite of her ice cream and swallowed. She pointed her spoon in his direction, “Go ahead and laugh all you want!”

“Whoa,” Dmitry replied softly. “It’s okay, Anya.”

She ate a spoonful of ice cream and glared at him. 

He laughed to himself. He didn’t know how someone so little could be filled with so much spite. “I just didn’t know I was taking your virginity tonight.”

Anya scrunched her nose and lightly pinched his arm, “You think you’re so funny.”

“If I had known maybe I would have come more prepared,” he teased. “Just try not to get attached, alright?”

Anya stuck her tongue out at him. 

His lip curled into a smile. He walked her back to his car. 

“So that’s it, then?” Anya asked. 

“What?”

“You just get ice cream and sit in your car?”

Dmitry stared at her for a moment as he opened his car door. “What do you mean?”

He ducked into the car and sat down. Anya got in the car after him. 

“It’s not Dairy Queen if it isn’t enjoyed in some absurd location, like in your car,” Dmitry laughed. 

“This is weird,” Anya muttered as she ate. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to go eat it on the curb where the kidnappers are waiting for you?” Dmitry offered. “I can make arrangements for that.”

Anya cracked a smile as she ate a spoonful. 

Dmitry smirked. 

“This is actually really good,” Anya said softly. 

“Anya, I wouldn’t take you somewhere that wasn’t good,” Dmitry laughed. 

She scrunched her nose as she looked over at him. 

It was quiet for a moment between them and Anya stared out the windshield as she ate. 

Dmitry took a spoonful and was seemingly lost in his own thoughts. 

“Are you alright?” Anya asked. 

“What?” Dmitry snapped to. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Just checking,” Anya said quietly.

“I just–my dad used to take me here when I was a kid,” Dmitry said quietly as he stared out the windshield. 

“Oh,” Anya said softly. “I’m sure this place is very special to you, then.”

Dmitry shrugged as he took another spoonful. 

“Were you close?” She asked quietly. “With your father?”

“When things would get rough, he used to keep a few spare dollars in his glove box, and we’d get a couple cones,” Dmitry added, a tear pricking in the corner of his eye. “He’d always say, ‘you can’t frown when you’re eating an ice cream cone, Dima,’” Dmitry deepened his voice to imitate his father’s.

“Dima?” Anya smiled at him as she tried to hide her laughter by shoving her spoon in her mouth. 

“That’s what he called me,” Dmitry’s lips turned into a distant smile and he nodded. “And he was right, you can’t frown while you’re eating ice cream.”

He stared down into his cup and scooped absent-mindlessly with his spoon. “I miss him every day.”

“Dmitry, I’m so sorry,” Anya said quietly. 

He was silent. 

Anya reached over the center console to touch his arm, and then retracted her hand. 

“It was awhile ago,” Dmitry nodded. 

“Dmitry, you don’t—“ Anya said quickly. 

“It’s fine,” Dmitry replied. “I know you think your family life is messy, and that I wouldn’t want to sign up for that. But you should know what you’re signing up for, too.”

Anya felt tears prickling in her eyes. 

There was a beat between them. 

Dmitry broke the silence by offering to take her empty cup and tossing it in a garbage can nearby. 

He returned to the car and started the ignition. “I guess I should take you back before they think you were kidnapped.”

“They don’t pay much attention to me,” Anya replied. 

Dmitry smiled and pulled out of the small lot. 

Anya was silent on the drive home. 

Dmitry navigated back through the hills to take Anya home.

“Sorry I took you such a shitty first date,” Dmitry shook his head, afraid he had ruined the mood. “If that’s what you even would call it.”

Anya’s lips parted as she fell at a loss for words. Her memory pulled back the dozens of first dates she had been on at snooty restaurants and at charity events with boys Maria had needed to remind her the name of before she got in the car. 

She had only been on one date to a questionable lot with a cheap ice cream shop, and if she was judging fairly, she would probably rank it as her most enjoyable first date. That was, if that’s what they were calling it. 

“I didn’t know this counted as a first date,” Anya smiled softly. Her fingers twisted in the ends of her hair. 

Dmitry was thankful it was dark, and hoped it would conceal his ears burning red. 

“Right,” Dmitry cleared his throat. “Because this isn’t real.”

“We could pretend it was a date when my sisters ask where I was,” Anya said softly as Dmitry pulled up to the gates of the Romanov estate. 

“You could do that,” Dmitry agreed sheepishly. 

“I had a good time, though,” Anya clarified. “Thank you, Dmitry.”

“I’m–me too.”

Anya smiled. She paused for a moment. Her mind was not so quick to make decisions about Dmitry. Her lip caught between her teeth and she leaned over the console and kissed his cheek. 

He gasped and turned to look at her. 

“If we’re going to pull this off we’re going to need to be at least a little bit convincing,” Anya giggled.

He smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Have a good night, Anya,” his voice gasped and he swallowed hard. 

She smiled and gathered her purse and stepped out of the car. “Will I see you at the club tomorrow?” Anya asked. 

“As long as I need a paycheck, you’ll see me,” Dmitry replied with a smirk and he gripped the steering wheel. 

Anya smiled. She shut the door and watched as he drove away. 

She hiked up the long drive of the estate. It didn’t matter if she got in trouble for sneaking around the estate. Dmitry had called their small side trip a date unprovoked, and she would think about that until she fell asleep. 

* * *

Dmitry returned to his apartment to find Marfa sitting by the door. 

“God, where were you?” Marfa asked. She rose to her feet. 

“Just taking care of some business,” Dmitry replied coldly. “What are you doing here?”

“Got locked out,” Marfa muttered as her eyes cast away. 

“And you needed me to pick the lock?”

“Yeah, but you were out swapping spit with Anastasia Romanov, so I’ve been sitting here for over an hour!”

“Nothing happened between me and Anya,” Dmitry clarified. “Don’t start rumors.”

“So you were with her?” Marfa asked as Dmitry pushed his door open. 

“It’s none of your business,” Dmitry muttered. He dropped his bag from work in the living area of his apartment. “Come on, let’s go,” he sighed. He checked his key ring for the charm he used to pick locks. 

“What’s gotten into you?” Marfa asked. “What kind of shit is that girl filling your head with?”

“No shit!” Dmitry barked. “Let’s go, I’m exhausted.”

“God, I didn’t know you’d be such a grouch!” Marfa tossed her hands out as she watched Dmitry pace around his living room. 

“Marfa, I don’t have time for this tonight,” Dmitry grumbled. 

They had classically cared for each other, though they would never admit it. Dmitry had saved Marfa from a number of precarious situations over the years. Marfa had covered for him in several of his own sticky situations. 

Marfa crossed her arms and shifted her weight. “Playing pretend with the Romanovs has changed you, Mitya,” Marfa said coldly. 

“We haven’t even done anything!” Dmitry cried. “I just am trying to uphold my end of the deal for Anya.”

“Just trying to uphold your end of the deal for Anya,” Marfa clicked her tongue. “And what about your old friends?”

“Do you want to just stay here? I’ll drive you to work in the morning,” Dmitry offered. 

Marfa rolled her eyes and stepped inside. 

Dmitry shook his head and shut the door behind him. 

Marfa knew the routine, she dug through a basket of clothes she had unceremoniously left at Dmitry’s apartment over time and he had collected for when she slept over. She took her place on the couch in his living room. 

“Goodnight, Marf,” he muttered and shut himself in his room. He could be angry with her but could never show her disdain when she was in need. 

Alone in the privacy of his bedroom, he thought about Anya, sitting in the passenger seat of his car, her tongue like a whip. She had the prettiest silhouette against the sunset, the way she tossed her hair, unaware. 

His heart raced more than it should have. It shouldn’t have wiped a stupid grin across his face, but it did. He knew she wrote the rules, but what she didn’t know was that he was a rule breaker. 


End file.
